There have been many discussions here on Kos in the past several weeks about a woman's right to choose and the role this issue should have within the Democratic Party. There have been many differing views but there has been one element of this discussion I have found to be alarming and particularly sad and frustrating. Women have been supported but we have also been assailed for our steadfast resolve that this is a private decision that is not open for debate. We are told to fuck off, we are told we are killers, we are told we do not get to decide whether an embryo or fetus is life or viability is or if we have the right to reach that opinion alone.
It is a sad commentary that women are having the very same argument with other Democrats we have been having with the rightwingnuts for years. It is beyond the pale that we are told an issue that is so personal needs to be framed and presented in a way that does not offend when we are offended over and over. If this party wants our respect, it would behoove this party to start treating women with respect.
More below the fold.
I have spent sleepless nights wondering where the voice of power for women has gone. Nancy Pelosi's support of Timothy Roemer is one example of misplaced power. It is also the lightning rod for me to stand up and say that's it, the gloves are off, bring it on. It is time women stand up and scream until we can scream no more. It is time to remember how many women have fought for decades for women's rights. It is time we realize we don't want our legacy for our daughters and granddaughters to be the loss of rights instead of the rights that were gained under our watch. It is time to stop bellyaching about the spine of this party and get an adjustment for our own backbone. I, for one, have had enough.
When I have to defend my rights on Kos I know the pendulum has swung too far. It is true there are many men here who understand and support women's reproductive rights and as appreciative as I am they are not the choir I wish to address. I want to speak to those who think the fight is to maintain what rights we have left. The people who need to listen are those that believe the fight is protecting Roe v. Wade as it stands now, in the year 2005. The newsflash for me is we have been abandoned, our rights have been stripped, the pendulum has swung into the house of our party so much so that I want all my rights that have been loudly and stealthy taken away back.
It is not abortion and Roe v. Wade in name only that will pacify me, it is first, second and third trimester abortion rights. It is teaching my daughter and granddaughter how the hell they really get pregnant, it is all public medical facilities giving the right for a free flow of information to all women who need it. It is teaching our doctors how to perform abortions, it is having facilities available in more than 15% of the districts across this country for women to get abortions. It is funding for centers and agencies that provide planned family information. It is equal funding and curriculum for family planning and abstinence training in our public schools.
Women and girls stand to lose much more than the seats in the White House and the Congress, we will lose our lives and our souls if we don't take this fight to the streets of every city in every state in this country that is, by 53% rights, ours as well as theirs.
To that end here is a letter that is in response to an email I got from a friend that works on Simon Rosenberg's campaign for Chair of the DNC. In my eyes it was fortuitous timing, in Chris' and Simon's eyes it could well be looked at differently. It's time the leaders of this party know, without a doubt, women will leave in droves before we sacrifice one woman or child to backdoor abortions. We will not go back it's as simple as that. We will not go back.
Hi Chris ... I'm not going to be in town for the event Thursday night. I'm very sorry I'm not going to make it. Everyday I get more and more concerned with the direction our party is going in. Frankly, I'm horrified Timothy Roemer is getting support from Nancy Pelosi. Roemer is beyond not being acceptable, he would alienate the women of this party more than anyone realizes.
In 1972 when I was finally old enough to vote I proudly became a Democrat because our values and our beliefs were so clear. A woman's right to choose was a bedrock principle of our party. We stood strong for the rights of others, civil rights, human rights, rights of gays, rights of children, rights of women and rights of the poor. Our values are being eroded in ways I never imagined possible. It isn't a question of who we become, it is so simple, we have to stand up for
the values we've always believed in. Forced motherhood is not one of those values.
For the first time in over 30 years I will become a one issue voter. If our party decides that it is appropriate to have a Minority Leader that believes abortion should be criminalized and a Chairman of the DNC that is pro-life then I will leave this party. I was pregnant and a teenager when backdoor alleys were the facilities open to us. I knew girls who drank cleaning fluid, used knitting needles, threw themselves down stairs and had their boyfriends beat them so they would abort. We cannot go back to those days.
I talk with scores of women daily that feel the same way I do and they all say abortion is the issue that will make them jump ship from the
Democratic Party. Roemer says we need a bigger bus. He is wrong. If we are forced to leave because of a misguided belief that we will stay simply because we have nowhere to go, this party is taking the wrong people for granted. A bigger bus will be a dream of the past because you will no longer be able to fill the one you presently have. The Democratic Party will soon learn just how difficult it is to win elections without the votinng bloc of women.
Please let Simon know how serious women are about our reproductive rights. Tell him not to shrink from the debate over abortion. I'm not sure that the leadership of this party has a clue how women feel. To see our leaders react to the rightwing thugs who have never supported you and never will instead of standing firm for a woman's right to choose is reprehensible. Women have much more to lose than an election, we have our lives to lose, the lives of our daughters and granddaughters. We can't afford to give an inch because our party
has already given away too much.
I had a conversation with over 450 women last night, late into the night about our options and this party. There were many views but the one constant is that we will leave, we will send our voter registration forms with declined to state marked to the DNC in mass to make the point that you thew our votes away because you didn't care enough to keep them. Pander to the Republicans and you will lose more than 2005, 2006 and 2008, you will lose our respect and our votes for a lifetime.
Thank you for keeping me in the loop. I look forward to hearing how the campaign is going. Please, please take this seriously. It will break many hearts if we have say we are no longer Democrats.
Warmest Regards,
My intent is certainly to be heard but it is also to galvanize and encourage the women on Kos to give comments and suggestions. I know of no other group that is as powerful as women when we join each other in the fight for what we view as life, our dignity, our rights and the example we are so privileged to send around the world because of our birthright to call ourselves Americans. It is true that our valor has been tarnished in this world but we still shine brightly. Nelson Mandela says it is our power we are most frightened of, let's move out from the shadows and let that power shine as we say no more, we've had enough, we have given enough, we deserve better.